Insulin pump should be used with caution, care

[Ellie Jones]

Would you also agree though that some people are sent away with very little knowledge to do their own problem solving and probably a larger % may not have the confidence to do a much of it.

Some people are self-assured and will see it as their own responsibility (prob don't want any interference either!) but many see the technology or the processes as confusing and potentially dangerous, therefore not to be tinkered with without 'expert' approval.

The question is, should those people be sent away with a pump assuming they can do the work or should they be better assessed to see if they can walk the walk ? And only be given a pump if they meet the criteria, or be given confidence training.🙂

Rob

(I've used Rob's quote rather than add all replies to this quote)

I've been around pump therapy for almost 10 years now, but as pump funding/access has become easier the easier it becomes to see the foibles of it and how the 'user' impacts on out come.. MDI more often or not fails for either/and lack of knowledge or lack of commitment and a pump isn't going to resolve this at all...

If you asked my team they would tell you, that I took to pumping like a duck to water, I'm a star pupil with fantastic results and I am what pumping is all about... Oh apart from 2 days of training they've not had any input since😱 Apart from doing blood tests and my consultant over view bits..

When I started on my pump, not only could I tell you why MDI failed and why I couldn't deliver insulin via injections to get it to work, I also understood pump therapy so could explain how I could use the various features to deliver my insulin to over-come the issues... So all I had to do when I got my pump is put theory into practice... And yes it did take me about an hour to change my first cartridge as I to, do lack some confidence around using new technology..

To many people now see pumps as a plug and play item, negating the need to fully understand how to manage their diabetes for them and then when the pump fails to perform they want a CGM funding, which is yet another very useful piece of kit when in the right hands..

I can actually suss out which diabetics will benefit from insulin pump therapy and those who are very unlikely to achieve anything... Rarely am I'm wrong..

So yes a lot more needs to go into training on MDI and that of confidence building with MDI before some are let lose and a lot of money wasted on insulin pump therapy